UIT
P
RURALand purUs RaSstant feature ofS AONB. The area
the
suit are con
l rural sports
Traditiona
their associated tributaries,
e major rivers – the Wyre, Ribble and Lune- with
has thre
ermen and the Ribble Rivers Trust
in its boundary. All attract large numbers of fish
with
for invertebrates which indicate how
have volunteers who regularly check water samples
of any pollution is quickly located
healthy the rivers and streams are so that the source
and dealt with.
dder, 1972
Learning to fish in the Ho
Sadly, the floods of 1967 which devastated Wray and Dunsop
Bridge also seriously affected the rivers and it has taken 20 years
for the river and fishing stock to get back to normal.
waller and
Bill Woods is an experienced
recently.
butts on Waddington Fell
restored the grouse
1960s
Gisburn Races party in the
r
en a gamekeepe
ell shoot, has be
r for the Whitew
ekeepe
Neil Jones, gam
years.
for 30
The large areas of moorland and
woodland in the Forest of Bowland
are popular with sportsmen who
appreciate the care and effort that the
local gamekeepers put into rearing and
caring for the pheasants, grouse and
partridge who thrive in these conditions.
Always a contentious topic,
shooting provides a big boost to the
local economy. The shooting parties
will stay at local B&Bs and hotels, there
are people who provide the poults for
the gamekeepers; local restaurants who
regularly feature game on their menus;
and the pubs who provide the meeting
places for the post-shoot drinks.
Gamekeepers are also responsible
for maintaining areas of the countryside
which may otherwise go untended.
Predators are trapped using legal traps.
The first Larson trap in the Hodder
Valley was made by a local gamekeeper
from a picture on the front cover of the
Shooting Times!
nt to Point” to be held in
Lord Ribblesdale first organised a “Poi
s to fame is that the winner of the
Gisburn in1906. One of its claim
there several times.
1980 Grand National, Ben Nevis, ran
The workload of the
gamekeepers has inc
reased
as there are more sho
oting days each year.
“There are strict guide
lines – some will start
with a whistle and en
d with a horn, it’s not
just
shooting willy nilly.”
“Salmon Sunday” in Paythorne in November
used to be a regular event for people watching
the salmon going up river to spawn.
Air Ambulance
The Bowland Pennine Mo
untain Rescue
was set up after two boys
from Preston
died on the fells in March
1962. Their HQ
is at Smelt